THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881. MAJOR ATKINSON’S SPEECH.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2206, 22 March 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881. MAJOR ATKINSON’S SPEECH.

The Colonial Treasurer has been the first of the Ministers to break cover, and give to his constituents his views on'the past, present, and future of the Ministerial policy. People generally I will appreciate his taking time by j the forelock, the more so because financial matters are, in the present State of the colony, of paramount importance, and, having a clear statement now before them, the public will have plenty of lime to think over what has been done and what is to bo done', before the next meeting of Parliament crystallises floating opinions into Legislative enactments. As might be expected, the subject of finance occupied a large portion of Major Atkinson’s speech. After adverting to the position in which the present Government found the colony when it came into power, namely, with a deficit of nearly a million, the speaker proceeded to show what had been done in the direction of cutting down expenditure ant bringing it within the ordinary revenue. The weekly expenditure had been reiuced from £IIO,OOO to £60,000 or £7»,000. But, notwithstanding this, fnrthertaxation had to be resorted to, for the colony is one that cannot possibly be governed cheaply. Consequently it was decidtd to impose fresh Customs’ duties, a heir tax and a property tax. Major Atkinson then goes into an elaborate justification of the principle of the property hx. He lays down four first principles cf taxation—first, that every subject shoild contribute towards the support of the Government in proportion to his means; secondly, that every taxpayer should pay his quota in the best way and at the meat convenient time to himself; thirdly, flat every tax should be certain and umrbitrary, and that each man should knowhow much he had to pay; and fourthly, that taxation should take as little as posable out of the pockets of the people. He claims that the property tax catches the class that would not otherwise be readied, and that that class which receives the benefit of exemption was amply taxed by the Customs. As regards the conmon cry that the tax discourages thrift, the Colonial Treasurer is particularly enphatic, and it will be well to give his remarks as telegraphed, as they help to explode a widespread fallacy. He says ; —“ Whether a man receivings £IOOO a jear spent it all or saved £SOO did not affect the question of revenue. The man wlo saved £SOO paid direct taxation on the amount ho saved, but if he spent the money the indirect taxation upon the £IOO spent more than equalled the direct taxation. He estimated that the taxatioi on the £SOO in a given year by Custons duties would amount to £6O, and 5 pr cent, on that would more than cover the tstal amount that the saving man paid by the property tax.” Then, again, as to taxing unproductive property. Major Atkinsoa holds strong opinions. The “ unearned increment ” is, in his hands, treated ai a very sober reality. As to the cost of collection of the property tax, ho recognizes that at present it is excessive, but trusts that Parliament will detemine that the general valuation might be used by the local bodies for the purposes of taxation, and that consequently tho property tax

might hereafter be collected at a reasonable rate —say, of not more than 3 per cent. The result of the year’s work ho looks upon with a certain amount of complacency. He anticipates that the revenue will cover expenditure, and he believes he can assure the colony that Government has retrenched to the extent of £252,000. Passing on to Public Works the Colonial Treasurer explained the Government policy. “ The only policy,” he said, “ open for the Government, owing to the large commitments by their predecessors, was to carry out the works initiated by them where the Government saw that there was likely to bo an immediate return, so that it might be in a position to complete other main lines. They had boon obliged to stop many works which otherwise they would have liked to go on with, but they had endeavoured to act fairly to all. The policy for the future would be a steady continuance in this mode of action.” With regard to the future of local government. Major Atkinson is of opinion that it is the want of money, not the form of government, that creates all the difficulty, and he thinks that as the ratepayers have full power under the present act to determine the matter for themselves, they may well be left to do so. On Native matters the Major is of course well qualified to speak, and he claims that the Government have unswervingly held to the same course since the time when the constabulary crossed the Waingongoro. Mr. Bryce resigned because the Executive would not hurry on matters, and for no other reason. The speaker acknowledges to have himself felt that feeling of impatience at the obstrnctivenoss of a small body of Natives that must have moved Mr. Bryce, but he holds that the action of the Government was a wise one, and that patience and firmness combined will in time reap their reward. In the Waste Lands Department, in eighteen months, Mr. Rolleston has opened out 242,000 acres, of which 186,000 have been sold on deferred payment. As to the burdens born by the people of Now Zealand, Major Atkinson objects to the ordinary test made, namely, to say “ that there were so many people in the colony who have such a debt, and who are taxed to such an extent, and then to

institute a comparison on the same basis with other countries ” The true way was to get at the annual income and compare it with the annual outgo. On this basis the state of our population was very satisfactory. It may he held by some that this is a somewhat risky method of [calculation, but anyhow, taking it for what it is worth, the result of the Colonial Treasurer’s arithmetic cannot but bo comforting. With regard to the work for the coming session, he would like to see the House go carefully into the finances and to see that they were secured on a perfectly firm basis, and if, in addition, it passed the necessary Representation Bill, a Charitable Aid and Hospital Bill, and a Licensing Bill, ho should think the session by no means barren. Taking the question of education, Major Atkinson confessed himself in favor of limited donominationalism. He thought the Catholics had a special right to some special concession. Nevertheless the present was not the fitting time to move in the matter. At the next general election the question would bo decided by the people at large. With the exception of the Major’s tenderness for denominationaliam, his speech must be looked upon as a satisfactory one. It contains no vague promises for the future, hut is a quiet and businesslike statement of the affairs of New Zealand. We do not want enthusiasts at the head of affairs at the present time, nor do we want windy humanitarians. We want practical, hard-headed individuals, and to manage our finances such a man as would make a superior chairman of a public company. Above everything, we should have the state of our affairs laid before us without fuss and with perfect clearness. Under the Grey Government the public was always mazed in the bewilderment of official reticence. Just as much as was thought advisable was let out of the official bag, and no amount of hunting would unearth the remainder. This state of affairs might indeed have been pardoned under their last Treasurer, Sir George Grey, because he himself knew about as much of Treasury affairs as he did of the other side of the moon, but the principle had been developed before ho took the post. Under the present Government, however, there is no wish to shirk publicity, and in this lies a strong guarantee that our affairs will be economically and advantageously managed.